Ex-official cops plea in Boeing tanker deal

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Air Force official pleaded guilty to conspiracy Tuesday for arranging a high-level job for herself with Boeing Co. while she represented the government in negotiations for a $23.5 billion contract with Boeing.

Darleen Druyun, a career government employee who once was considered one of the Pentagon's toughest contract negotiators, also promised to cooperate with a joint Pentagon-U.S. Justice Department investigation into business conducted by the Air Force and Chicago-based Boeing during the last several years.

Druyun was responsible for negotiations between the Air Force and Boeing on a proposed lease of 100 767 aircraft, which were to be converted to serve as aerial refueling tankers.

The deal was proposed by Boeing in February 2001 and quickly backed by the Air Force. But it drew criticism from several Pentagon watchdog groups and some in Congress, who argued that the tankers are not needed, and that the lease arrangement devised by Boeing and Druyun would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars more than necessary.

Appearing in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Va., Druyun was tearfully repentant.

"I would like to apologize for my actions, apologize to my family and to my nation," Druyun said to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis.

Druyun, 56, pleaded guilty to one felony count. She could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at her sentencing Aug. 6.

Boeing, which in November fired Druyun and Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears for what it called unethical behavior, attempted to distance itself from the proceedings. Sears has denied any wrongdoing.

"It is important to note the charge announced today relates to conflict of interest in Ms. Druyun's hiring and is not related to Boeing business, its financial performance or the 767 tanker program," Boeing said in a statement.

U.S. Atty. Paul McNulty declined to discuss the information that Druyun could provide for the investigation. But McNulty said that the investigation into the Air Force's contracting practice is continuing.

That investigation has focused on contacts between Druyun and Sears. Sears was identified repeatedly in court documents as a "Boeing senior executive" but identified by Druyun in court as the person with whom she arranged her job at Boeing.

Druyun's annual salary at the aviation giant was $250,000, according to court records, which also stated that she received a $50,000 signing bonus. She joined the company in January 2003 after retiring from the Air Force in November 2002.

Sears in 2000 also arranged jobs--at Druyun's request--for her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend, an engineer who later became Druyun's son-in-law, court records state. Both still work at Boeing, said a company spokesman.

Questions about the structure of the Air Force's proposal to lease the 100 Boeing tankers, and the close relationship between Druyun and other Air Force officials and executives from Boeing, have put the tanker deal in doubt.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put the contract on hold after Druyun and Sears were fired.

"If someone does something wrong, they ought to be punished," Rumsfeld said Tuesday when asked about Druyun's guilty plea.

The Air Force said in a statement Tuesday that it never would condone favoritism of one of its employees toward a particular contractor.

"The secretary of the Air Force asked the Department of Defense inspector general to expand his review of Boeing contracts, with which Ms. Druyun was involved, beyond just the proposed tanker lease," the Air Force statement said.

Druyun, as principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition and management, was involved in some of its most high-profile aircraft development programs after she took the job in 1993.

In the summer of 2002, Druyun told her Air Force bosses that she wanted to retire. Though asked not to announce her retirement, Druyun began looking for work. In August, she filed papers with the Air Force disqualifying herself from matters involving two large defense contractors, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., according to court records. Druyun then began discussing a job with Lockheed Martin.

On Sept. 3, 2002, Druyun's daughter, then working for Boeing, sent an e-mail message to Sears, saying that Druyun was getting ready to retire and was talking with Lockheed Martin. Druyun's daughter, the record states, encouraged Sears to recruit Druyun.

"I met with your mom last week. She informed me of her plans, and I suggested that she and I chat," Sears replied though an e-mail. "She said she needed to wait until she got some of our work completed before she should chat with me."